Eight micro-satellites provide nearly gap-free Earth coverage with a mean revisit time of seven hours. This Level 1 dataset contains calibrated raw intermediate frequency signals from the NASA CYGNSS mission, launched in December 2016, for measuring ocean surface wind speeds. It is produced by the CYGNSS Science Team at the University of Michigan.
Use Cases
- Classify land-water transitions using signal strength time series at 2 ms and 50 ms temporal resolutions.
- Retrieve ocean surface wind speeds in tropical cyclones by analyzing Delay Doppler Maps (DDMs) with high delay and Doppler resolution.
- Detect small inland water bodies by applying the suite of coherence detectors, including power-ratio, complex zero-Doppler waveform, and fast entropy.
- Analyze scattered signal strength variations using products like Signal-to-Noise Ratio, reflected power, and Normalized Bistatic Radar Cross-Section derived from multiple incoherent integration times.
Strengths
- Data originates from a constellation of eight satellites, enabling frequent, near-global coverage.
- Includes multiple signal coherence detectors and scattered signal strength products at various integration times (e.g., 2 ms, 50 ms, 1000 ms).
- Delay Doppler Maps are generated with high resolution (1/16 chip delay, 50 Hz Doppler).
Limitations
- Specific sample size, temporal range, and data volume are not provided in the description.
- As a Version 1.0 initial release, the calibration and processing algorithms may be subject to future revisions.
Provenance
- Source
- NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder Mission CYGNSS, Science Team at the University of Michigan.
- Collection Method
- Space-based measurements collected by a constellation of eight micro-satellites using GNSS-Reflectometry.
- Time Range
- Mission launched 15 December 2016; specific temporal coverage of dataset is unknown.
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Near-global coverage with an orbital inclination of approximately 35° from the equator.